32 UCSF Researchers Named New Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators

By Nina Bai

researchers work in a labratory
Tanja Kortemme (right), PhD, professor of Medicine in the department of Bioengineering and one of 32 UCSF faculty members appointed as Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators, with Samuel Thompson, a graduate student in the Program in Quantitative Biology (PQB). Photo by Susan Merrell

Thirty-two UC San Francisco faculty members have been named to the second cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators and will receive $1 million apiece in unrestricted funds over the next five years to pursue creative and innovative research.

The Investigator Program, which is open to faculty members at UCSF, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University, aims to build engaged, collaborative communities of Bay Area scientists to undertake innovative research that will help solve the greatest challenges in medicine.

This forward-thinking partnership brings together some of the most brilliant minds from UCSF, UC Berkeley, and Stanford to expand our collective understanding of disease across the globe.

UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood

“This forward-thinking partnership brings together some of the most brilliant minds from UCSF, UC Berkeley, and Stanford to expand our collective understanding of disease across the globe,” said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS. “Through this initiative, the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub is expanding what is possible in bioscience and health research through innovative philanthropy. I am eager to see what advances this group of scholars will make through their collaborations.”

The CZ Biohub is an independent nonprofit research organization formed as a collaboration between the three universities, with the goal of inventing new tools to accelerate transformative advances in the life sciences. It is funded by a $600 million commitment from Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg and pediatrician Priscilla Chan.

This year’s 32 Investigators from UCSF are among 86 awardees chosen from nearly 700 applicants through a competitive process. They represent a diverse range of disciplines, including basic biological sciences, clinical biomedical sciences, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer and data sciences, statistics, and public health.

“These new Investigators will pursue the ideas that excite them most and address scientific questions they consider fundamental,” said Joe DeRisi, PhD, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF and president of CZ Biohub.

The start date for the new Investigator awards is March 1, 2022. The first cohort of CZ Biohub Investigators, announced in 2017, included 15 faculty from UCSF, four of whom have been reselected for the second cohort.

UCSF’s Senior Investigators

Seventeen UCSF researchers have been named senior investigators:


UCSF’s Junior Investigators

Fifteen UCSF researchers have been named junior investigators:

In a separate selection process, 10 additional new Biohub investigators were appointed through nominations by the three partner universities. These investigators are new faculty members, whose recruitment was supported in part by the funding provided by the awards.

University-nominated Investigators

UCSF nominated two investigators:

Sara Suliman, MPH, PhD
Catera Wilder, PhD